PARK CITY, Utah, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nutraceutical International Corporation (Nasdaq: NUTR) today reported results for the fiscal 2008 second quarter ended March 31, 2008. Net sales for the fiscal 2008 second quarter were $44.4 million compared to $42.1 million for the same quarter of fiscal 2007. For the second quarter of fiscal 2008, net income was $4.4 million, or $0.39 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $4.2 million, or $0.37 diluted earnings per share, for the same quarter of fiscal 2007.
Net sales for the six months ended March 31, 2008 were $85.5 million compared to $78.0 million for the same period in fiscal 2007. For the six months ended March 31, 2008, net income was $7.6 million, or $0.67 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $7.5 million, or $0.67 diluted earnings per share, for the same period of fiscal 2007.
Operating cash flow for the six months ended March 31, 2008 was $9.4 million compared to $10.1 million for the same period of fiscal 2007. This operating cash flow, combined with net borrowings of $7.5 million, was used to invest $10.0 million in property and equipment, $5.9 million in acquisitions of branded natural product businesses and $2.1 million in repurchases of common stock.
Bill Gay, chairman and chief executive officer, commented, "Revenue, net income and EBITDA for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 all strengthened and reflect the synergistic contributions of the six acquisitions completed during fiscal 2007. The late March acquisition of the Health from the Sun(R) brand, which specializes in essential fatty acid and phytonutrient products, enhances our portfolio of brands and expands our offerings. We continue to invest heavily in consolidating manufacturing and distribution so that additional operating efficiencies can be achieved. Our day to day focus is on revenue growth and controlling expenses. We are appreciative of everyone who supports us in our efforts to achieve leadership in the Healthy Foods Channel."
ABOUT NUTRACEUTICAL
We are an integrated manufacturer, marketer, distributor and retailer of branded nutritional supplements and other natural products sold primarily to and through domestic health and natural food stores. Internationally, we market and distribute branded nutritional supplements and other natural products to and through health and natural product distributors and retailers. Our core business strategy is to acquire, integrate and operate, from beginning to end, the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of branded nutritional supplement businesses in the natural products industry. We believe that the consolidation and integration of these acquired businesses provides ongoing financial synergies through increased scale and market penetration, as well as strengthened customer relationships.
We sell branded nutritional supplements and other natural products under the trademarks Solaray(R), VegLife(R), KAL(R), Nature's Life(R), Sunny Green(R), Action Labs(R), Natural Balance(R), NaturalMax(R), bioAllers(R), Herbs for Kids(TM), Natra-Bio(R), NaturalCare(R), Zand(R), Health from the Sun(R), Life-flo(R), Larenim(R), Living Flower Essences(R), Pioneer(R), Thompson(R), Natural Sport(R), Supplement Training Systems(R), Premier One(R), Montana Big Sky(TM), ActiPet(R), FunFresh Foods(TM), Dowd & Rogers(TM), CompliMed(R), AllVia(TM), Oakmont Labs(R), Healthway(R), Body Gold(R), Sayge Biosciences(TM), Monarch Nutritional Laboratories(TM) and Great Basin Botanicals(TM). Under the name Woodland Publishing(TM), we publish, print and market a line of books and booklets to, among others, book distributors, national retail bookstores and health and natural food stores. We also distribute branded products of certain third parties.
We own neighborhood natural food markets, which operate under the trade names The Real Food Company (TM), Thom's Natural Foods(TM) and Cornucopia Community Market(TM). We also own health food stores, which operate under the trade names Fresh Vitamins(TM), Granola's(TM) and Pilgrim's Natureway(TM).
We manufacture and/or distribute one of the broadest branded product lines in the industry with over 3,900 SKUs, including over 700 SKUs sold internationally. We believe that as a result of our emphasis on innovation, quality, loyalty, education and customer service, our brands are widely recognized in health and natural food stores and among their customers.
This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements relate to our future plans, objectives, expectations, intentions and financial performance and the assumptions that underlie these statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Press Release. Important factors that may cause our results to differ from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, government regulations, product liability claims and litigation, insurance coverage issues, a decrease in or slowing of the growth rate of the vitamin, mineral and supplement market, the success of the healthy foods channel, consumer perception of safety and quality of our products and similar products, competition, intellectual property rights of other parties, the loss of key personnel, disruptions from acquisitions, issues with obtaining raw materials of adequate quality or quantity, problems with information management systems, manufacturing efficiencies and operations, litigation generally, the volatility of the stock market generally and of our stock specifically, a general lack of adequate industry analyst coverage, and other factors indicated from time to time in our SEC reports, copies of which are available upon request from our investor relations group or which may be obtained at the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov).
SOURCE Nutraceutical International Corporation
